Putting the customer first, irrespective of channel
"What can electrical retailers learn from other sectors and how can they organise their systems, people and processes to put the customer at the heart of all they do”
About us
We’re a strategic ecommerce &
multichannel consultancy
We’re thought leaders
Me sharing a stage with the founder of the WWW – Sir Tim Berners-Lee
talking about what’s next for the web and what does it mean for retailers
Our USP is that we’ve all worked in retail…
Brands Our Team Have Worked For
A Selection Of
Our Clients
Some of our clients
Putting the customer first
Retailers pay lip service to it
Winning the hearts and minds of customers in new markets
And the stats prove it…
Customer churn increasing year on year
IMHO
We’ll see more transformation and disruption in the next 5 years than we’ve seen in the last 21 years of the WWW
Voice activated everything….
Video
Technology can clearly help to put the customer first
Winning the hearts and minds of customers in new markets
Device of choiceWinning the hearts and minds of customers in new markets
Social
Mobile & Tablet Customer Services
In-Store technology Digital Signage
POS & Assisted sales Web
However…don’t get lost in the technologyIt’s just an enabler
Too often it gets in the way
Winning the hearts and minds of customers in new markets
Winning the hearts and minds of customers in new markets
Therefore who is going
to unblock the path?
“I see myself like a B52 bomber
removing the roadblocks”
Greg Wasson
Ex CEO Walgreens
What does it mean to put the customer first?
Winning the hearts and minds of customers in new markets
Winning the hearts and minds of customers in new markets
It means behaving like a customer service business
If you were a customer service business that just happened to sell electrical products…
What would you do differently?
If you were disrupting your space, what would you do differently?
Metro Bank offers convenience & is pet friendly
► Branches open 7 days a
week
► 362 days a year
► From 8am-8pm
► Branches are dog friendly
► They refund new and
existing customers when
they rehome a dog or a cat
from Battersea Dogs and
Cats Home
Winning the hearts and minds of customers in new markets
What does it mean to put the customer first?
It means structuring around the customer and their experience and not around channels
Customer experience mustcombine online and offline functions
In some cases the Chief Customer Officer brings different marketing, service &
engagement channels under one umbrella
Some retailers are integrating customer channels
Some brands integrate sales channels
The Retail Director (in M&S’ and Debenhams case, the “Multichannel Director”)
brings all sales channels under one umbrella
It means a leadership team who look beyond cost
Putting The Customer At The Heart Of All You Do
Conversation with Wiggle CEO
3 years ago…..
If you only looked at cost, you wouldn’t do this…
Putting The Customer At The Heart Of All You Do
New Argos concept stores
Or this...
Putting The Customer At The Heart Of All You Do
Buying from an
order point and
choosing home
or the order point
for the fulfilment
of your order
If you need to be 100% sure, you’ll be 100% late!
Putting The Customer At The Heart Of All You Do
Putting the customer first means letting customers
shop ‘on the go’
What does it mean to put the customer first?
Putting The Customer At The Heart Of All You Do
Schuh now
has more
than
50%+ of all
online sales
through
mobile
Using mobile to add to customer service
Neiman Marcus mobile app lets users find and contact the sales assistant who
served them on their last visit.
Winning the hearts and minds of customers in new markets
https://www.practicology.com/thinking/reports/
Winning the hearts and minds of customers in new markets
It means offering customer service when it’s required
Schuh’s “live help” services
Schuh offers customers live chat with support staff for any queries
► Service available 7 days/ week
► Your own “personal assistant”
Winning the hearts and minds of customers in new markets
Maplin uses it’s social media
accounts to promote it’s
instore experts.
► Individual stores use the
hashtag #askmaplin
► And post photos of staff
members who are experts
in any given product
Winning the hearts and minds of customers in new markets
It means having a strong customer value proposition
Price – Service - Satisfaction
Winning the hearts and minds of customers in new markets
Winning the hearts and minds of customers in new markets
It means being transparentin all that you do
Customer service loopWinning the hearts and minds of customers in new markets
40 mins a day signing customer letters: Both good and bad
Personal Letters
Winning the hearts and minds of customers in new markets
Fulfilment
It means letting individual customers choose how they wanttheir order fulfilled
Delivery Matters
Click & Collect usage in UK, France & Germany
Brits lead the way in using Click & Collect, but German’s are more likely to use a locker option.
Winning the hearts and minds of customers in new markets
Image: MetaPack
It means ensuring returns are easy and free
Winning the hearts and minds of customers in new markets
Winning the hearts and minds of customers in new markets
76% of shoppers viewed a retailer’s return options before placing an order
51% failed to proceed with a purchase because the returns process offered was not easy or convenient for them
Winning the hearts and minds of customers in new markets
Respondents across the US, UK, Spain, France, Germany and the Netherlands - .MetaPack Survey October
2015
Customers also want to
know what’s next?
59
62
It means personalised offers
Waitrose “Pick Your Own”
offers
• myWaitrose customers can
choose 10 of their favourite
products and save 20% on
them every time they shop
• This applies to shopping
instore and online and can
be changed monthly
It means localisingthe customer’s experience
Winning the hearts and minds of customers in new markets
Winning the hearts and minds of customers in new markets
Practicology Localisation Report 2015
Example of how
unfinished a site looks
when not all of the
content has been
translated
Winning the hearts and minds of customers in new markets
Winning the hearts and minds of customers in new markets
Local language is very important!
Video
[email protected]@martinnewman / @Practicology
uk.linkedin.com/in/martindnewman